U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said Tuesday that guidelines released from a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department amount to a free pass for banks that abandon foreclosed homes.

Brown called for tougher standards to prevent evictions of Ohio families and neighborhood blight.

“Too many Wall Street banks are walking away from too many Ohio Main Street communities,” said Brown. “And when they do, they leave behind homes that are often vandalized and left to crumble. Ohioans are seeing their property values plummet as abandoned homes on their block or in their neighborhood are left to decay or stripped of anything of value. Meanwhile, cities and counties are left footing the bill for what the banks’ irresponsibility.”